Industrial Product Marketing: 5 Key Marketing Strategies

Objectives of Industrial Marketing

• Diversification of Customer Base - In the pre-Internet era, industrial companies relied heavily on offline strategies to reach their target audience. Now, with the ubiquity of digital marketing, brands are widening their customer base through targeted online campaigns.
• More Bang For Your Buck - Because of its targeted nature, digital strategies allow you to invest money in the right places that yield outsized returns
• Boost Brand Visibility - Even business customers hang out online frequently, so having a good web presence is a great way to capture mind-share.

Now that we have understood the WHY, let us look at the HOW. Here are 5 marketing strategies for industrial products that you can explore:

• 1.

  Trade Shows / Industrial Expos / Conferences / Symposiums

Trade shows are the perfect opportunity to approach your target audience. You can set up an attractive booth replete with banners, standees and flyers to catch the eye of potential customers. Remember, the goal is industrial lead generation, so try to get contact information, by having a notebook or a bowl for collecting business cards. Industrial products are generally complex so if you can’t demonstrate it in person, play a video showcasing the product in action on loop. Sponsoring the event or paying for a speaking slot is also an effective way to get in front of more eyeballs and pitch your product more convincingly.

• 2.

  Direct Marketing

When it comes to industrial marketing, old-school tactics like cold calling can work wonders. Make a list of potential companies who would be interested in your product and the relevant point-of-contact (POC). Make sure you get hold of a decision-maker like an operations manager who can be your internal champion; otherwise, you’ll be stuck in bureaucratic limbo. Once you establish contact, get straight to the point, no fluff. Explain your value proposition in a crisp, concise manner, and how your product can seamlessly integrate into their business’ existing infrastructure. Highlight how the customer can benefit in terms of increased efficiency, reduced costs, safety, etc. Remember, you’re not selling your product, you’re selling a better, hassle-free way to work.

• 3.

  Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

All searches - be it seeking information or solutions to problems - start on Google. You can be sure that your potential customers are frantically searching for answers to issues that you can solve, as we speak. Ergo, your SEO game needs to be so strong that you pop up whenever someone searches something relevant. You need to rank on the first page for important keywords in your domain. But remember that SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to consistently put out high-quality content so that search engines recognise your domain authority and prop you up in the SERPs.

• 4.

  Email Marketing

Contrary to reports that it’s dead, the humble email remains one of the best channels for outreach, potentially driving an ROI up to 4400 per cent! Curate an email list by incorporating signup forms on your landing page or generate leads through chatbots. You can also get prospect emails by asking them to subscribe to your blog newsletter. You can then schedule drip email campaigns to convert leads into customers. Attach a case study in the email to give social validation.

• 5.

  Social Media

Social media marketing entails both organic posts as well as paid ads. Platforms like Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter offer detailed targeting criteria so that you can reach qualified people only. And even if they don’t convert right away, it is a great medium to build brand following and recall, fostering familiarity, trust, and brand awareness along the way. Since social media is so visual, make sure to include photos, videos and other visual content in your strategy.